NASA Discovers Star System With 8 Planets

NASA has discovered the eighth planet of a star system, similar to our solar system. The star, Kepler-90 is over 2,500 light years away and larger and hotter than our sun. It is the first star known to have as many planets as our solar system.

The Kepler-90 star system is much more compact than our solar system. The outermost planet orbits the star at about the same distance as the earth orbits the sun. its inner planets are small and rocky while the outer ones are larger and made up of gas

The newly discovered planet, Kepler -90i, is the third celestial object in the star system. It is probably rocky and similar to our earth, but because of its closeness to its home star has an averagesurface temperature of about 400° C. It moves around the star once every 14.4 days.

The discovery was made based ondataprovided by the Kepler space telescope. Launched in March 2009, the telescope has constantly been scanning certain sections of the universe in search of new stars and planetary systems. Up to now, over 2,000 new worlds have been discovered.

To help analyse the data NASA has been relying on artificial intelligence software supplied by Google. This software examines weak signals of light when objects pass in front of a star. The new way of examining data is expected to reveal even more new planets in the future.

Kepler 90 star system compared to our solar system

Words

artificial intelligence = when computers do intelligent things that only people can do, such as think and make their own decisions

average = normal, usual

based on = use

celestial = about the sky

closeness = being close to something

compact = here: the planets are closer together and near to the star

constantly = always

data = information

discover = to find something for the first time

distance = the amount of space between two objects

examine = look at something closely

launch = to send an object into space

light year = the distance light travels in one year = 9,460,000,000,000 km

orbit = to go around

outermost = the farthest away from something

planetary system = star with planets moving around it

provide = give

rely = depend on; need

reveal = to show something that was not known before

rocky = covered with or made of rocks; here: a hard surface

scan = when a machine looks at things carefully but quickly

similar = like

solar system = our sun and the eight planets that move around it

surface temperature = temperature you get when you stand on the planet